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In 1271, with the papal throne vacant for over two years, local officials locked the cardinals of the Catholic Church in a room, forcing them to select a new pope. From this inauspicious beginning arose the practice of the conclave, the highly secretive combination of rituals and politics designed to select a new leader for the world's Catholic population. With Pope John Paul II ailing, the time for a new conclave draws nearer, and Rome is preparing for over 6,000 journalists and innumerable interested onlookers to descend on the Eternal City to witness the election of the next leader of the Catholic Church. In The Conclave , prominent Catholic historian Michael Walsh takes readers through the history of conclaves past, highlighting the vendettas, feuds, and political intrigues that have colored the selection of a new pontiff. An entertaining history of the secret deliberations, colorful stories, and even bloody events that surround the making and unmaking of popes, The Conclave is a great story, a great history, and an important work for anyone interested in the papacy.

Tabla de contenidos provista por Syndetics

• Preface(p. vii)
• 1 In Times of Persecution(p. 1)
• 2 The End of Empire(p. 16)
• 3 Descent into Chaos(p. 36)
• 4 Attempting Reform(p. 56)
• 5 The Invention of the Conclave(p. 73)
• 6 Princely Pontiffs(p. 94)
• 7 The Great Powers Take a Hand(p. 114)
• 8 Modern Times(p. 137)
• Afterword: How to Spot a Pope(p. 159)
• Appendix Chronological List of the Popes(p. 167)
• Bibliography(p. 179)

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Library Journal Review

These two books offer some educated guesses about the next pope but are valuable mainly for their intriguing details regarding past popes and their accounts of the procedure used to select a pope, from the often raucous means used prior to the 13th century, to the conclave election by cardinals of the Church used since 1274, to the significant modifications legislated by the present pope. Though similar in scope, the books differ significantly. Tobin's is short on history and long on lists and documents; its strongest feature is the inclusion of the new statutes for papal elections and the list of cardinal-electors who might be in conclave within the year. Walsh's book is long on history and short on lists and documents; a unique feature is its detailing of the rise and demise of the "capitulations" through which a papal candidate would promise his fellow cardinals to abide by the common wisdom of their old-boy network. Recommended for seminary and academic libraries and for community libraries with strong religion circulation.-David I. Fulton, Coll. of St. Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

For a broad historical perspective on the process, there's Michael Walsh's The Conclave: A Sometimes Secret and Occasionally Bloody History of Papal Elections. The first real papal conclave, he asserts, happened in 1271, when the pontificate had been vacant for nearly three years. A local captain locked a group of cardinals into a palace and refused to let them out until they had chosen a new pope. Food was withheld from them. Some things have certainly changed since then, but much about this secret process dates back to that turbulent time. Readers will be fascinated by this historical journey through conclaves of the past. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Michael Walsh is a prominent Catholic author and historian. A former Jesuit, he is the Archivist for Heythrop College at London University, serves as editor of the Heythrop Journal, and is a columnist for the international Catholic publication The Tablet. A regular commentator on religious issues for the media, He and his wife Kathie have two grown daughters and live in London